Igor Bezinović's Fiume o morte! [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Igor Bezinović
scheda film] didn't just win at IFFR last year and get crowned European Documentary at the European Film Awards last weekend (see the news); it has also contributed significantly to a record-breaking year in Croatian cinemas.

Besides becoming the most-seen documentary in the territory ever, with 38,948 admissions (overtaking the previous record holder, Fahrenheit 9/11), it was also the third-highest-placing local film by attendance, after Neven Hitrec's children's hit Second Diary of Paulina P., with 74,250 viewers, and Jakov Sedlar's critically panned, nationally orientated War of Independence movie 260 Days, with 63,814.

Besides being tackled by Bezinović’s anti-fascist epic, the deep political divisions in Croatian society are further mirrored by the success of another documentary, Ivan Ramljak’s DOK Leipzig winner Peacemaker [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], which focuses on a local politician who tried to prevent the 1990s war in Croatia in his region. The film provoked reactions from war-veteran organisations and right-wing circles, which resulted in its screening being cancelled at some festivals, so its production company, Factum, decided to make it available online. Still, it managed to sell 5,669 tickets – more than Arsen Oremović’s documentary Third World [+leggi anche:
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scheda film], about the seminal album by popular band Haustor, and Dražen, Danilo Šerbedžija’s biopic of legendary basketball player Dražen Petrović (see the news).

In total, documentaries on theatrical release in 2025 sold 88,797 admissions, out of which 81,910 were for local films – both scores constituting the highest ever since Croatia's independence.

The Croatian box office in 2025 totalled €22,538,690, also an all-time record, strongly influenced by the increase in the average admission price from €5.80 to €6.35. Croatian productions and co-productions accounted for 7.03% of the total, marking another record. 2025 was also the best year for local films by attendance since 2013, with 328,526 tickets sold.

Non-national European pictures accounted for 10.55% of the box office (an 11.22% decrease from 2024) and 13.4% of the attendance (a 13.5% decrease).

The 2025 box-office chart is topped by A Minecraft Movie, Lilo and Stitch, F1: The Movie and Avatar: Fire and Ash. Second Diary of Paulina P. clocked in in 11th position, and the highest-placed non-national European movie which is not a US co-production was Black Bag, in 65th place. But since ticket prices for local fare are typically lower than those for Hollywood movies, especially for children's films, Second Diary of Paulina P. is placed sixth by attendance, ahead of 260 Days in 12th position, while Fiume o morte! sits in 27th place.